I think ploder hit the nail on the head, it's a little like feeling pride for the manner in which a rape was carried out by saying that everybody was raping back in those days, and comparatively our rape was relatively kind. And what's more, for a small country, we sure did manage to rape lots of countries. I'm so proud.

Indeed, I guess I find it hard to stomach the word 'proud' in the same sentence as colonialism. Maybe it has something to do with having family from a past colony and all the bs and anguish (the media didn't even tell you a small fraction of what was going on) peoples had to go through to become free again. That is what we are talking about here; the freedom of self-determination, being able to choose a representative. It doesn't matter how nice a man is if he has his foot on your neck. I think those on the receiving end of colonialism would have a very different opinion on its effects. It was about money but the effects are not so constrained.

What I find especially interesting is the conditioning ordinary people were subject to. Exploitation wrapped up in patriotism and sold to the general public as being for the victims good too. It never ceases to amaze how a bunch of crooks at the top of society make deplorable decisions and then encourage the rest to be morally blind to the outcomes. This didn't end with colonialism. It is still going on today in places such as China and Dubai where exploitative working practices are wrapped up as 'economic success'. The moral blindfold slips off eventually, but not until the crooks have made off with the loot.